Unbalanced
by Kiera Kingsley
Summary: It only takes a moment to fall.


Author's notes:  
  
Remember that scene in (I think it's) 'See Me' where Goren, Eames, and the perp are walking along a beam in a high-rise construction site, and Goren fakes a dive off the edge so the perp can catch him? This is an alternate version of that scene, told from Eames's POV.  
  
Written for the 'I love you' challenge at Amorous Intent. I love my group. :-)  
  
---  
  
Goren was walking along the edge of the scaffolding, chattering on to the suspect in his jovial, hearty, big and blustering voice. I was following behind the suspect, my heels thunking heavily against the wooden planks and clanging on the metal beams. The whole place echoed with ringing metallic noises, heavy thuds and crashes and clanks.  
  
Then--then he tilted to one side, and--and wavered in the air, and--  
  
And suddenly the world was silent. And suddenly I felt like I was plummeting, plunging through the air, falling down and down. If I didn't scream out loud in that moment, I know something inside me did, because that's all I could hear ringing in my ears.  
  
Then my vision cleared and I saw Goren clutched tightly in the suspect's arms. Goren was talking quietly, his dark eyes grave and accusing, as the other man's face twisted and his eyes filled with hatred.  
  
We were escorted back down to the ground in silence. Goren dodged the glares from the livid, seething suspect and gave me curious stares instead. I refused to look in his direction. My knees were weak and wobbly and my heart was still thudding frantically, pounding painfully in my chest as the blood boiled in my veins.  
  
I stormed ahead of Goren, rummaging furiously in my coat pocket for the keys to the car. "Eames?" my partner ventured slowly.  
  
I rounded on him. "What the hell were you doing back there?" I yelled, clenching my shaking hands into angry fists. "What were you thinking?"  
  
"I--"  
  
"What if he hadn't caught you? You could have died back there!" Tears were stinging in my eyes, and I winced furiously.  
  
"I thought... I was certain he'd catch me." Goren was stunned, his eyes dazed as they surveyed me. "His reflexes--"  
  
"But you didn't know!" I swiped a hand across my blurring eyes, shuddering and unsteady. A tear slipped past my fingers and slid down my cheek. "This might come as a shock to you, Goren, but you're not always right! You-- you're so certain of everything, you think you can gamble everything--fuck you, Goren, you scared the shit out of me!"  
  
I never swear. Ever. My voice split into a sob and I turned away, my hands still balled up in a white-knuckled grip, biting my lip hard as I fought to swallow my tears.  
  
I felt a large, solid hand clutching at my shoulder, and Goren pleading softly, "Eames... Eames, don't cry... I didn't think you'd be so scared, I thought you knew--"  
  
"I didn't, I had no idea!" I hiccupped in between two sobs and a sniffle, my breath hitching and knotting in my throat. "How was I supposed to know you'd do that? That was so stupid, that was the dumbest thing--"  
  
"Eames, please, stop, you're going to be sick." Goren was looking honestly alarmed now.  
  
"Leave me alone." I closed my eyes tightly, burying my face in my hands and crying. "You want to go and fling yourself off buildings, fine. Go and kill yourself for all I care."  
  
There was a moment's silence before Goren spoke up, his voice quiet. "It was a idiotic thing to do." The hand flattened against my back was trembling slightly. "I didn't think it would scare you so badly."  
  
My voice was broken into shattered, shivering little fragments. "I thought you were going to--I thought you were actually going to fall, and I couldn't breathe or think or--"  
  
"Eames." Goren gently took my chin and tilted my face up. "I'm sorry. With all my heart, I'm sorry. It was stupid, and foolish, and I won't ever do anything like that again. I promise."  
  
I nodded, regaining my ground as the world steadied itself underneath me. "I don't want to lose you."  
  
He looked taken aback, his dark eyes widening slightly, then he laughed. "Right, then you'd have to do the paperwork all by yourself."  
  
"No," I insisted fiercely. "I don't want to lose you, Goren, I..."  
  
Say it, my mind urged me. Now or never. I readied myself, steadied my nerves, and took the plunge.  
  
"...love you."  
  
And from the look in his eyes as he drew closer to me, it was like falling all over again. Only this time--one hand in my hair, one clasping the curve of my neck, his lips touching mine--I didn't plummet to the earth; I soared up into the sky.  
  
--- 


End file.
